Having already played a blinder with their cryptic marketing for one noodle-twisting psychological horror this year, Osgood Perkins' Nic Cage x Maika Monroe joint Longlegs, American indie label Neon look set to make it two for two in 2024 with Tilman Singer's Cuckoo. Following a curiosity grabbing, The Shining evocative first trailer back in April, the latest look at the Luz filmmaker's Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens starring scarer continues to only hint at the horrors that Singer has in store here — but those hints have us hooked. Check it out:
Stevens' Mr. König menacingly playing woodwind. An investigator looking into a mysterious, not-entirely-human-looking woman. An increasingly bloodied and broken Gretchen (Schafer) screaming, shouting, and getting their final girl on amidst the eerily tranquil climes of the German Alps. What could it all mean? Frankly, at this stage, we haven't the foggiest. And yet, as with that first tantalising teaser, there's something in that rich 35mm stock, the low-key pulpy throwback horror undertones, and Singer's eye for an uncanny frame — not to mention Kalin Morrow's petrifying Hooded Woman — that is just impossible to look away from.
Given the deliberately obtuse nature of these trailers so far, the official synopsis may come in handy here to divine some clues as to what's afoot in Cuckoo: "Reluctantly, 17-year-old Gretchen (Schafer) leaves her American home to live with her father, who has just moved into a resort in the German Alps with his new family. Arriving at their future residence, they are greeted by Mr. König (Stevens), her father's boss, who takes an inexplicable interest in Gretchen's mute half-sister Alma (Mila Lieu). Something doesn't seem right in this tranquil vacation paradise. Gretchen is plagued by strange noises and bloody visions until she discovers a shocking secret that also concerns her own family." Among the ensemble for this one are Jessica Henwick, Marton Csokas, and Jan Bluthardt.
Will genre fans go crazy for Cuckoo? Or will it turn out to be a more bird-brained affair? We'll find out for ourselves when Cuckoo hits cinemas in the UK on 23 August.